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Ongoing Photo TR: 7/26 Day 4: Clementon


JamminJ

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First off this series of TR's is from when I went on vacation in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania with my family 2 weeks ago, I will post one TR each day, usually with multiple pictures accompaning them. Being the credit whore I am, I plan to drag my mom, dad, and brother to numerous parks. Here what you can look forward to hearing from each day:

 

Saturday: Drive from NC to Pocono, hitting Williams Grove on the way

Sunday: Dorney Park

Monday: Knoebels

Tuesday: Sightsee Philly and Clementon Park

Wednesday: NOTHING DAY

Thursday: Coney Island, Rye Playland

Friday: Sightsee NYC

Saturday: Visit with family in Baltimore

Sunday: Head back home to NC

 

Also since my birthday was coming up, the one thing I wanted more than anything was for my brother to get to 100 coasters in his track record, I don't even particularly like him, but the more credits for me the better. Also I will signify new coasters ridden for my brother in [brackets], and for me (parinthesis), example, at the beginning of the trip my brother lies at [#79] coasters, and I am at (#242).

 

On to the first TR..

 

Williams Grove

Saturday, July 23, 2005

2005 Williams Grove Pictures

 

 

After hitting my snooze a rediculous amount of times I awoke at 6, a full hour later than I would have liked to (hmmm.. I notice a pattern here...) after much procrastination we finally hit the road at 6:40. A not so quick 7 hours later we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere cornfield known as Williams Grove. I visted for the first time last year with my buds Jonathan and Dave, and we loved it. I loved it so much I had to drag the rest of my family there. It was quite unexpectedly busy as the track across the street was hosting a World of Outlaws event that night. We paid our 2 buck admission price to the park and found the ticket selling mushroom in the 'midway.' I only bought 10 tickets as I knew I only wanted to do the coasters, and some of the more 'eccentric' flat rides.

 

As we were right next to it we decided to do Dante's Inferno. The 'stunts' here aren't that scary, but what is scary is the incredibly musty smell of the room, and the feeling that you could derail and die instantly at any moment. Who needs Sally when you have the original stuff? After our terrifying ride on Dante, we headed over to an even scarier ride:

 

Cyclone [#80] - I said it before and I'll say it again, you have not been afraid by a coaster until you ride the Williams Grove Cyclone. I somehow coaxed my brother to ride in the back, which got us many 'unusual' looks as well as a few "I wouldn't do that's.." I didn't think the ride was too bad, though it was rougher than last year. My brother said it was 'rough as hell' but also said he loved the 'unintentional' airtime moments.

 

Going up around the park we passed the shooting gallery, which is always a fave of mine as I can go by, take a picture, and scare the bejesus out of any people who are actually 'playing' the game. Since the Allotria funhouse was close by, and I LOVED it last year, I decided to do it again forcing my brother to go along. Some people have said that some of the stunts like the jumping bridges don't work well. Both times I have been on it everything has worked to perfection. I have never been drunk, but I imagine this is similar to the feeling. On the hamster wheel I was able to get nearly upside down before busting my ass. Unfortunately I don't have a pic, but my mom does, so as soon as she gets those developed I will post them.

 

 

 

Heading over to the other side of the park we passed the Kiddie Coaster. I really really wanted this credit as it had eluded me last time, but we didn't even get to the ramp before the fat ride op lady shook her head vigorously. BLAH! No new credit for us... We continued to the far side of the park to ride...

 

Wildcat [#81] - The only bad part about this was the abnormally large line, but the ride was incredibly smooth, and quite intense. Heck even my brother said it was smoother than he expected after the 'rough as hell' Cyclone. I just say it's unfortunate that there are not more of these, as they are REALLY fun without being overly intense or scary.

 

Since we had 2 tickets left we went back over to the Spider which is one of the more crazy models. The thing spins so fast that the individual cars don't even spin. We had a nice long INTENSE cycle. Man if only more parks would take notice.. probably one of my favorite flats. As usual my brother complained about the pain.. to his neck from the insane forces. What a pansy. Since it was around 3:30 and we were out of tickets we decided to head on out and get to the condo a little early.

 

After a small nap on the way up, We arrived around 6:00ish. The condo looked awesome from the outside, but inside it was a bit cramped. Ah well, still better than every other hotel I've ever been in. We were going to go swimming, but the nearest swimming pool was locked and chained, so no swimming to be had today. We did do some exploring around the Delaware River, I knew it was close, but not *THAT* close.. pretty crazy to see Jersey on the other side. We also played on the playground some and met some of the neighbors. Needless to say it should be a *very* interesting week..

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We'll end with the awesomeness that is my brother swinging on the 'playground'

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The ghettofied pool that closed at 6PM

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Instead of the traditional hot tub, we get the 'Whirling Well'.. it was like a bathtub, just 4 feet tall!

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The OMGZTINY kitchen.. needless to say, only one person was allowed back there at the time

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Here we are at the Condo at last, this will be Home Sweet Home for the next 7 days

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This was one of the oddest things we saw on the way from Williams Grove, instead of the haybales placed randomly about the field, they are stacked to form a wall

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High speed Corn!

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Hey are we in Indiana?

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Apparently they are painting one car at a time on the Monster, one car is a nice bright yellow while the rest are faded Volcano-style

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My dad samples some of the water, straight from the lake

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First new credit of the trip for my brother, the infamous Cyclone!

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The mini-sized trash cans fit for a mini-size park

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They want tips, I thought this was deplorable, until we got to Coney later in the week..

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Yay finally at 'The Grove'!

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We pass through the beautiful city of Roanoke shortly after 8, here is the Star that the 'Star City' is named for

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Finally wake up Matthew with a little silly string

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Sugar wants to go too :-/

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Van is packed and ready to go

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Look who is still alseep

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Late as usual

Edited by JamminJ
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Dorney Park

Sunday, July 24, 2005

2005 Dorney Park Pictures

 

Since our Condo doesn't have any alarm clocks I had to set my phone which sounds like some leaves rustling when it goes off, so I ended up waking up at 1:30. My mom wanted to walk along the river (like theres some big trail there or something *sigh*) we found a better place to take pictures, along with some fishermen, but thats about it. I had expressed interest in going to Pocono Play Park and Dorney Park, and I told the rest of my family that as long as we left around 3:00 it would be ok. Since it was only 2:30 at this time they went swimming and I told them to be back in 30 minutes. 30 minutes pass and no family, so I give them a call on their cell. They finally get back to the condo at 3:20. They take their time getting dressed and then decide to eat some leftovers. By this time it's 3:45 and I'm really getting pissed. Why is it whenever you are in a hurry, your accomplices don't seem to notice or even care. We FINALLY leave around 4:00 and obviously by this time, Pocono Play Park is out of the question (for today at least), and we get to Dorney shortly before 5 to take advantage of their half-off starlight admssion.

 

After a rather lengthy line to get tickets, me and my brother (my parents headed back to the Condo, for what reason, I'll never understand) get into the park and make a beeline for Hydra. As usual Dorney did a great job with the landscaping on the ride. It is also a sharp contrast to the huge dirt pile that was there last year during my first visit.

 

Hydra (#243) [#82] - We hopped in the back seat in what was an abnormally short line, and were quickly on our way. Whoever invented the Jo-Jo roll is a sick-sick individual as it is one of the more crazy inversions I have experienced. The first drop is fairly Nitro-esque (no flat part before drop) with some substantial *surprising* airtime. You then immediately fly into an extremely modified dive loop which produces some odd forces. You are then hit hard by a flatspin over the queue and a corkscrew. By this point in case you still weren't confused as to where you were going, you dive into the Cobra Roll which has an 'Alpengiestian' *snap* to it. Coming out of the Cobra you slide across the station, go up and have another nice airtime hill and slam into the final corkscrew. One last helix and you gracefully slide into the brakes.

 

I must say that I was expecting a rather forceless and boring ride, but what I got was an interesting ride with some surprising forces and some mild airtime. Not a top 10 ride by any means, but it is a nice ride for Dorney and fairly rerideable, not to mention currently my 2nd favorite floorless after Medusa, but better than Dominator and BTDK. Unfortunately I never got a chance to ride Hercules so I don't know if it was worth the 13 million dollar 'upgrade.' I did find it amuseing that you can still see the footers for Hercules in the lake, and it gives you an idea how big Herc really was. The only negative I could find was the horrible vibration throughout the duration of the ride. It wasn't rough, but it was uncomfortable. Since I had the only credit I needed, my brother led me to the rides that he wanted to ride. Talon being first.

 

 

Talon [#83] - I thoroughly enjoyed Talon last year, and this year was no different. This probably had the longest line all day at around 20 or so minutes which was amazing becuase the park was PACKED. While in line I pointed out to my brother how quiet Talon is, as they filled the spine with sand to keep the roar down. He and I agreed that this made the ride seem less intimidating. Maybe its just me but that trench before the tunnel could really use some mist to liven up that section of track. Maybe thats just me as I'm a mist whore. We passed up Wild Mouse and Woodstock's Express on the way to the back of the park.

 

Thunderhawk [#84] - This is your typical Cedar Fair woodie, which is to say, it isn't that good, or at least, not anymore. The laterals on the far turn(s) are insane, and the ride is in a really beautiful setting, but the one trim on the return run absolutely KILLS the ride. As we were close we went over to:

 

Steel Force [#85] - I remember this being a fairly slow and boring ride last year, but this year some of the hills had slight airtime. I wanted to ride again near the front, by brother didn't seem to enthused about it. Still pales in comparison to every other hyper I've ever ridden..

 

Before moving on to Laser I wanted to take a spin on Revolution (pun very much intended). This felt like most other 'inverted frisbees' I've ridden which is to say not very intense, but pretty fun. We sat on the right side of the ride, and that seemed that that was the 'low' side each time the ride got to one of the high points. Overall I was pretty dissapointed with it.

 

Laser [#86] - I was shocked as this ride had NO LINE, and when we tried to get in the backseat (with no line except for maybe the first 2 rows mind you) we got a tounge-lashing from the ride op and quickly moved to the middle. Got to love classic Schwartzkopf, every seat is a great one. The two loops pin you to your seat, and the helix immediately puts you in the other person's seat. *Sigh* I just wish it was longer.

 

As my brother got the credits on the 2 kiddie coasters Dragon Coaster [#87] and Woodstock's Express [#88] I walked around and took some pics and took it easy for a while. After he finished up Woodstock we made our way over to Wild Mouse to get the last credit for my brother. An odd thing happened about 5 minutes after we got in line, the ride stopped suddenly on the lift and first brake after the top half. It was really odd as it stopped so hard the entire structure shook vigorously. Being the crehos we are we waited it out. It looked as if at least 80% of the were leaving, so we eventually got up to the station with undoubtedly a much shorter line. After about 10 more minutes of waiting it out, the Wild Mouse ops made everyone in the station leave. DRAT!

 

So we headed over to the nearby arcade to see if there was anything that piqued my interest. As usual there was and I escaped before I spent too much money. I gave my brother all my tickets and told him to get whatever he wanted. Minutes later he came back smiling and said "JAY LOOK WHAT I GOT!" He opened his hand to about 20 or so Tootsie Rolls. Ah, a man after my own heart. Since it was nearby we took a ride on the oh-so lame Hang Time, which I am convinced runs the tamest program ever. More oddness occured as apparently some kid wanted off halfway through the ride, so the ops stop it, release the restraints, let them off, and then let us go again. I'm pretty sure we would have wasted less time just finishing out the ride. I'll never understand people who want off. I mean I love having my time wasted don't you? Just close your damn eyes or something and let everyone else enjoy.

 

As our Hang Time ride ended we could see that the Wild Mouse was now up and running. My brother literally SPRINTED over to the ride and got in line, and I did my best to keep up. It was not yet too bad around maybe 15-20 minutes or so. If there is one that that Cedar Fair can't do, it's run a Wild Mouse. The one at Michigan's Adventure stacked about 7 or 8 cars, and this one has a rule where it is only 2 adults per car. As a result I don't think I saw a full car go out the entire time.

 

Wild Mouse [#89] - This is standard fare as far as Wild Mice go, I was surprised as the top half was brakeless, but they were on hard the rest of the way. But the most important thing is my brother got all the available credits in a bit under 3 hours.

 

After the Mouse we made our way to Hydra, this time we decided to wait for the front seat. I was still amazed that this ride had very little line other than the front seat of course. The front seat didn't quite have the intensity of the back (HA me using intensity and floorless in the same sentence) but it was a very nice ride. My brother had been wanting to do Meteor and since it was close, we hopped in line. I like how this ride has the unique 3 across seats that sit 'face-offish.' Instead of sitting next to each other we faced each other which was an odd experience to say the least. Me and my brother thought this was the best of the few flats we had ridden that day, and it is unfortnuate that more parks don't have them. Since it for some reason STILL had no line, we took 2 more excellent rides on Hydra, as well as another ride on Meteor, with a final ride on Hydra in the front seat.

 

Overall we had an excellent 5 hours at Dorney, quite a bit more enjoyable than my visit all day last year. Too bad it's not closer, the park has some good coasters and some good flats and I wouldn't mind visiting a lot more often.

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My brother seems to have found a trashcan at Dorney. Crazy stuff!

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The Jo-Jo is innnn-sane!!!

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Settle down, I have a few more Hydra pics..

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..except the Skycraper.

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Looks like all of the Skycraper stuff is still there..

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Could someone tell me the name of this ride?

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Hershey? At Dorney? Does anyone else find this odd?

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The only reason I came to Dorney

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And looking to the north.. pretty area eh?

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A look at the Delaware River to the south..

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I would say Dorney is probably my favorite of the "other" Cedar Fair parks. It is weird that Hydra never seems to have a line. Then again, it's a B&M, not a mouse so I can understand that somewhat.

 

If only their waterpark had some Proslide products in it. What is it about CF waterparks? They are all so "bleh" when it comes to slides. Um, hello...Cannonbowl...Tornado...anyone?!

 

I like your TR so far, you have me eager to see if your brother makes it to 100 or not!

 

-Don

/waiting on the next entry!

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It's nice to see a B&M that drops right off the top of the lift instead of having that little hump thing. That makes not only for a better start of the ride and a more pleasing profile, from an aesthetic standpoint.

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Things have been pretty hectic at work lately, sorry for the rediculous delay..

 

Knoebels

Monday, July 25, 2005

2005 Knoebels Pictures

 

We somehow awoke at 7:30 and arrived at the park shortly after 11. The drive to Knoebels is a very interesting one, you go up all these little side roads and just when you think you're lost you see a big Knoebels sign. Inside the line for POP wristbands was pretty rediculous at least 5 or 6 windows open if not more with a 30 minute wait though. All very worth it though, last year I easily blew 40 bucks worth of tickets in a fairly short amount of time, so the 31 dollar coaster option cannot be beat. Sort of odd it doesn't cover the Skyride or Haunted Mansion though, guess they require more maintenance or something. We made our way towards Phoenix to be greeted with a HUGE line, it was down to the ticket booth with only one train, I figured it would have a shorter line later.

 

So we made our way towards Fandango, the parks new Moser frisbee-style ride. Since Delirium was closed during my June trip, and I was really disspointed with Dorney's Revolution, I was REALLY looking foward to this. It turned out to be REALLY awesome. Unlike the inward facing models where when you are at the 'low' point which provide no thrills whatsoever (perhaps other than seeing a hottie on the opposite side lose her top), Fandango has you facing the ground with no obstruction and a nice helping of airtime. I can only imagine how insane Maxair and Delirium are, man I hope Carowinds or PKD gets a giant model. Since Twister was fairly close we headed that direction.

 

Twister [#90] - Twister is an excellent design and overall really fun woodie. It would probably be rated even higher if Phoenix wasn't sitting a few hundred yards away from it. It was probably best we rode this before Phoenix as the rest of my family thought it was amazing.. little did they know the insanity waiting for them later in the day..

 

With Twister out of the way we hit the next 'must do' attraction.. the Flyers! While I completely OWNED them last year, I could not get my rhythm toghether to save my life. I got one or two decent snaps, but I really think that the ones at Carowinds have spoiled me. They may have been running a tad different though, I couldn't really tell. Oh, one more thing, the former Whirlwind area looks CRAZY without Whirlwind. The Squirel Cages ride still isn't anywhere near completed, so I might have to head back for PPP just to ride them.

 

Continuing our tour of 'must do' attractions, we hit the Carosuel. Last year when I rode this I had the pleasure of grabbing the brass ring on my first ride. This time a kid about 2 horses in front of me got it, so I just missed it. Why more parks don't have more 'grab the brass ring' styles is beyond me, it's SO MUCH FUN!

 

Following the random paths we ended up at High Speed Thrill Coaster [#91], man this is one insane 'kiddie coaster'. Lots of parks could really benifit from having a great family coaster like this. We were going to do the boats next, but that easily had the longest line in the park, so it was off to the Whipper we went. I thought this Whip was pretty good, as it is in excellent condition, and goes fast enough, until we rode the one at Rye later in the week..

 

Another of the must ride attractions was nearby, so we 'hit up' the Bumper Cars (pun intended). The amazing weight and speed of the cars make these the best Bumper Cars on the face of the planet. My mom, brother, and myself ganged up on my dad a few times and crunched him good.

 

Having ridden all of the 'must ride' attractions (well, other than the best 2) we started to ride some of the smaller rides, that I didn't have a chance to ride last year due to time and money restraints. First up the Sky Slide! Everyone sees this coming in, but it's really tucked away in an interesting conglomeration of paths so it's a little difficult to get to. We got in line and I quickly noticed something. Other than the rest of my family, I was the tallest one by at least 3 feet. When I finally got my mat and headed up the staircase, I noticed it was oh-so-tiny, so that may have been a reason for the unoffical 'height limit.' It was pretty funny seeing my mom and dad come down, they appeared to be enjoying themselves quite a bit.

 

Since we were going in that directions, and I had raved about how much I loved it last year, Haunted Mansion was the next stop.

 

While we were still together we made our way over to the Tilt-A-Whirl. My brother and I hopped in a car while our parents searched for another. There must have not been any open, as they surprised us and decided to join us in our car! FOUR PEOPLE, none of which weigh less than 100 pounds or shorter than 5' 7", in one Tilt-a-Whirl car. Needless to say, it was one of the most insane Tilt-a-Whirl experiences ever.

 

Still making our way around the park, my brother and I hit the Super Round Up. These are always good rides, but the parks should invest in more padding for the head area! The little quarter inch piece of 'foam' doesn't cut it when you're going that fast.

 

Finally it was time..

 

Phoenix [#92] - This time the line was just inside the station, but due to the 1 train op, was still about a 10-15 minute wait. One thing I do have to say about Knoebels though, they have some of the fastest restraint checkers in the biz. Phoenix and Twister both were probably under 20 seconds from stop to dispatch. Anyway we all queued up for seat 1.3 as is said to be the best seat on the train. I would have really liked to ride with my parents and see their expression through the entire airtime laden course, as my dad said the best wooden coaster he had ridden up until that point was GASM at SFoG or Roar at SFA (neither make my top 20).. man I can't wait to see his face after his first ride on Thunderhead. My brother was lucky enough to get two consecutive rides as the guy that was riding in front of him was also alone, so he rode with him and myself. It also is amazing to me, that this design hasn't been copied at all, while the Coney Island Cyclone and others not worthy of duplicates, have been cloned a rediculous amount of times. The only ride that really reminds me of Phoenix is the Comet at Great Escape. Both relocated Schmeck's.. makes you wonder.

 

My parents wanted to go off on their own for a while, but I begged them for a game of Facination before they left. The obliged, and played *one* game.. me and my brother played only 2 games, but my brother WON the first one.. talk about beginners luck. Facination is a game where you could drop a major wad of cash in no time at all, luckly we restrained ourselves.

 

Now with the parents out of the way we went on to do some of the flats. We started off with the Power Surge, which was better than I remember, and also had a REDICULOUSLY hot ride op (sorry no pics). We then went over to Downdraft, which is still unlike any ride I've ever seen. Its lots of fun without being overly intense. We then went over to the Rockin' Tug, where we were the only 2 people on the ride, and sat on opposite ends. I had been wanting to ride a Rockin' Tug ever since I had heard about them a few years ago, and had seen a few of them at parks, but had never gotten the chance until now. They are a very fun childrens ride, and every park should have some variation of one.

 

We then went over to 1001 Nachts, which is your basic flying carpet style ride. This has got to be one of the slowest flying carpets ever, you don't even get any air. I dare say even the massively tamed down Rocket Power: Airtime at Carowinds has more than this! Next was the Ferris Wheel, I would say it provided a great view of the park, but all I could see was trees, so I wouldn't know.. (this a good thing, don't take it the wrong way )

 

Next up we ponied up the cash for the Skyride. After riding the one at Lake Compounce last year I felt prepared for anything. This one is heavily covered by trees, so going down you could only see one way, towards Twister. It seems to be in the most random of places going over the road and the buildings, and turning at the top of the mountain and coming back down. It was fairly relaxing, but not quite worth the extra money we paid.

 

We then made our way over towards Galleon. I love these swinging ship rides, and this one is no different. In fact we rode it 2 times in a row, once on each end. Man I wish Carowinds would get a non-looping ship.. I'd probably ride it at least 10 times each time I wentx. We then meandered till we found the Pioneer Train. I had seen this litte train going through Twister, but I had no idea where it started. Despite being rediculously small, it was a nice fun jaunt through the waterpark, Twister, campground, and finally the woods before turning around and taking the same trip back.

 

After taking another rhythem-less Flyer ride we found Cosmotron. From the outside, Cosmotron is fairly non-descript, White building, electronic lettering of "Cosmotron" that flash in random sequences. Inside, its a 'Himalaya' style ride with loud music and flashing lights, not as good as some indoor rides I have ridden, but they tried and thats more than most can say when it comes to dark rides.

 

I wanted to get another spin on Fandango before it was too late, so we headed over towards that direction. The line was extrememly short, just as it had been in the morning. After getting off we went back around to find another non-existant line. We figured what the hell and rode again. This continued for quite a while and before too long our parents had met back up with us and we had logged 7 consecutive rides! I remember each time, telling my brother, "ok this is the last time" but apparently that was not the case.

 

After my parents had arrived went back towards Phoenix and took a last seat ride. It could have just been me, but I detected a *hint* of roughness in some places. The airtime was still rediculous, so I am not complaining by any means.

 

On our way to the Carosuel we passed the Facination building where they announced a game of 'cover-all' was starting in 2 minutes. For those who have never played Facination, cover-all is where you have 2 balls, and attempt to cover up the entire playing field which is 25 cirlces. I plunked down the 75 cents and began at the bell. Believe it or not, I got 24 covered before someone the final buzzer rang signifing a winner. You know what they say, 2nd place is the first loser.

 

After the most excellent Carosuel ride (every park needs a brass ring model.. come on, some company step to the plate and make one..), my mom wanted to try the Downdraft while my dad went out to the car. She said she liked it but it wasn't something she could ride for a large chunk of time. I was pretty dehydrated so I bought a bottle of water, pretty cheap at $1.50. My family decided to ride the wheel, I was going to join them, but the operator told me I couldn't bring my water. No big deal, I would sit on the bench and sip away, while my family rotates helplessly in the air.

 

My dad then wanted to try Downdraft, and he had the same reaction as my mom. Man I come from a family of pansies. My dad then reluctantly agreed to try the Power Surge, while my mom sat and watched, even after much prodding from the gallery. I rode facing my dad and brother, and much of the time, my dad looked as if he was about to blow pretty much the entire cycle. After we got off he looked straight at my mom, with the most stoic expression ever and said "You wouldn't like it." Needless to say I died laughing.

 

Since the Merry Mixer was the only flat in the area we had yet to ride, so we took a spin on that. The Merry Mixer is like your average Eli Bridge Scrambler, except a little smaller and a tiny bit faster. Overall it was fun, and I really enjoy riding these park staples.

 

By this time I was absolutely famished, and we had noticed a great deal on crabcakes at the eating area near Phoenix. So that is where we headed. In typical Knoebels style they were awesome, and lasted only about 30 seconds before dissapearing completely. Highly reccomended. Sadly it was time to go, but I would not leave without one final ride on Fandango. I can not stress enough what a great ride this is, and the fact that all parks should have this or something similar. So ends a trip to my favorite park in the country. Hopefully the next trip won't be too far away. I think in order to 'earn' enthusiast status, everyone should have to make a trip to Knoebels. It is simply one of the most unique and magical places there is.[/url]

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It wouldn't be a trip to Knoebels.. well.. you know..

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Random blurry shot that looks cool

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Photo courtesy of my dad, the pansy

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Fandango is AWESOME!

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Woo! Flyer Action!

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But then you turn around and the view of Twister is breathtaking

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Heres the look up the skylift.. note the 'evacuation routes'..

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The new ride hasn't progressed very far..

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My brother likes the butter...

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Can I have one of these in my room?

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Yes this flyer is still bent from last year

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Haha.. I've always been afraid of reliving A Christmas Story to do that...

 

Anyways, great TR so far! Williams Grove is definately a unique park. I once got yelled at by a random guy there in the booth that said "TICKETS" to "go to the F'in Mushrrom to get F'in tickets".. I think he was completely trashed. But sure enough, the mushroom had tickets..

 

Haha.. Hershey's Ice Cream isnt owned by Hershey foods.. however, at Cedar Point they had Hershey's chocolate vending machines all over the park! So hopefully guests going there are funding a new attraction at Hershey

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Eric

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Clementon Amusement Park

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Clementon Pictures

 

After 'sightseeing' Philly for a few hours we made our way to Clementon Park. I had not heard much about this park, other than J2 was one crazy ride. After paying the rediculously cheap 12.50 after 4 price we made our way in the park. I hadn't seen J2 run yet so I was a bit concerned weather or not it would be open today.

 

First off, the park is small. Really small. It kind of reminded me of a comglomeration of LeSourdsville, Family Kingdom, Libertyland, and Williams Grove. It didn't have too many rides, a Chaos and Inverter which were closed, a 'Turtle Whirl', Falling Star, Yo-Yo, Ferris Wheel, Sea Dragon, Alpine Bobs, a miniature train, a Log Flume over the lake, some kiddie rides, and a pretty large waterpark. But, first things first:

 

J2 (244) [93] - Me and my brother ran to it, and were relieved to find it was indeed open. We plopped down in the backseat and then were a first hand witness to the horrible operating procedures of this park. We buckled our seatbelts, when we were subjected to operator torture when they tightened my belt so tight I could barely breathe. Then when they unlocked the lapbars I pushed it down to my comfortable level, and the ops came down and pushed it down even further, lets just say I wish I could have been stapled. Now in addition to not being able to breathe, I couldn't move either. I was expecting the worst with all the signs and warnings saying how 'aggressive' J2 was. But enough with the doomsday beginning... BECAUSE J2 ROCKS!

 

The steep first drop of 62 degrees delivers delicious amounts of ejector air, followed by a slight left turn and another ejector laden hill, especially in the front. After one smaller hill which probably has the most airtime of any hill on the ride, you SLAM into the turnaround. The banking here is very similar to that of Avalanche, except its a full 180 degree turn instead of the 60 degrees or whatever Avalanche does. You then find yourself taking the first right turn of the course in the form of an EXTREMEMLY INTENSE upward helix, so intense I actually found myself greying out at one point. You then go from an extreme right banking, up a hill, to an extreme left banked turn that goes under the turnaround. The ride then has one large bunny hop, a banked dogleg turn, one final bunny hop and go way up into the brakes. For some reason it takes about 5 minutes to get into the station from the brakes, but you may need that to recover from the ride. While it *IS* aggressive, I would not consider it rough. The ride definitely lets you know who's boss. I don't think it *quite* matches the intensity of Avalanche either, but it is still a rediculously fun ride.

 

After another ride in the front seat of J2, we walked around in the picnic shelter, which pretty much takes up the entire 'inside' area of the coaster, providing some excellent photo opportunities. We then made our way to the Sea Dragon. For some reason recently I have really taken a liking to swinging ships, and I really did enjoy this one. It seemed to last longer than some of the others, but I didn't have my stopwatch out to compare..

 

I always like to ride things that go up high slowly, so the Ferris Wheel was our next stop. From up there you could really see how small the park is. It is right next to the old Jack Rabbit so I unfortunately couldn't get a good picture of the ride from up there. We then proceded toward the miniature train which went *through* Jack Rabbit AND J2, so the photo ops abounded. It also had random fake animals all through the course, I don't know if it was supposed to be a safari or a zoo, or what, but it sure was odd.

 

Following our eccentric train ride we made our way to the Falling Star. We were the only ones on it, and it had a really good view of the waterpark. It felt a little slow so the airtime was not as great as it could have been. Since we had so little time at the park we by-passed the Thunderbolt, YoYo, and Turtle Whirl and went back to J2. Just as we finished the 3rd straight ride our parents rolled into the parking lot which meant it was time to go. Overall I'd say we had a pretty successful hour and a half at the park. I would highly reccomend anyone who is ever in the area to check out the park and especially J2 as it is a kickass ride. I know I won't hesitate to visit again the next time I find myself in Jersey.

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One last view of Philly's skyline

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J2 really dominates every view of the park

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A close up of the twisty section

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The ferris wheel provides an even more incredible view

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I just wish some of these pictures had the train in them.. ugh.. horrible operations..

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It even goes over the water for a few feet!

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It had the steepest drop in the country up until this year

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Oh yeah they have this coaster called J2

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J2's guard dog. RUFF!

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My brother gets eaten by a bear on the train

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Wacky mirror stuff

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The old Jack Rabbit.. just... sitting..

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"Hi! Stuff garbage into my mouth! YUMMY!"

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Um... wow.. this is actually the enterance to the gift shop with some great Tsunami merchendise.

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Finally get to Clementon!

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We stopped at this little Italian place near Clementon for some 'Authentic Philly Cheesesteaks.' Lets just say I could pull more authentic things out of my ass. Excellent service though! I would highly recommend.

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Liberty Bell.. perhaps the gheyest monument EVAH!

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Woo Rocky Steps! Unfortunately I didn't run up them :-/

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I thought it was funny as the thing that made Love Park famous, is now banned

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We started the day at Love Park

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One of these days, I'm going to have to get to Clementon again. I was there when I was a kid but remember not liking the park much. It still sounds like things are the same (bad operations and few rides) but J2 does sound great.

 

The whole Love Park issue has been an ongoing issue with the skateboarders and the city for a while. There was recently a protest about it a few months ago I think but it didn't do any good. I think the issue is that there just aren't many places to skate in the area. There was an indoor skatepark in the suburbs but it closed up around 2 years ago

 

Nice photos

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